Since I can’t (for the moment) visit Dan Morgenstern at his Upper West Side apartment to listen and learn, I am inviting all of you to go back into the recent past for a few previously unseen interview videos, showing his large range: the music he has advocated for and the friends he has made. There was construction going on outside, but Dan comes through clearly.
Some music from Tubby Hayes, tenor saxophone; Clark Terry, trumpet; Horace Parlan, piano; George Duvivier, string bass; Dave Bailey, drums. October 1961 in New York: OPUS OCEAN:
From last December, Dan speaks briefly and with affection about UK tenor saxophonist / vibraphonist Tubby Hayes:
More from the irreplaceable Cee Tee, that is, Clark Terry, here in 1976 with Nick Brignola, saxophone; Sal Maida, piano; Bill Crow, string bass; Larry Jackson, drums, performing MACK THE KNIFE:
and Dan’s fond recollections:
Music by the beloved Chicago pianist Art Hodes, SOUTH SIDE SHUFFLE, 1939:
Memories of Art and friends, including Lester Young:
Glimpses of worlds that most of us never got to visit, thanks to Dan. And there are more interviews to come . . . to quote Tubby, “Lovely!”
Postscript: we have a real scholar — diligent and affectionate — of Tubby Hayes (and many others) in our midst, the tenor saxophonist / biographer / musical archivist Simon Sipllett on Facebook and elsewhere: he offers information and sounds with great grace.
May your happiness increase!